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OUR NATIONAL MOVEMENT. 






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Rev. L J\ Ulilson, Dcrtb Copeka, Kansas, jp 

President of the K. I. E. B. Alumni Association. ^T 

^3 If 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE Jf 

THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION, T 

OF THE i- 

^ Mo. National College Association of the Blind, *^ 
^ St. Louis Missouri, October 7, 1897. k& 

^ — »>^xk» — y^ 

TT. Edited and issued by D. "Wallace McGill, chief historian \[ 

~~ T T[ of the Historical Commission of the K. I. E. B. A. A. and "ftF 2 

tk recording secretary of the M. N. C. A. B. Leavenworth, i ' ^ 

IT/ Kansas, October li t 1897. ~1t 

Tt IP 

7~df Any person desiring copies of this Address ft=s 
j^4 can obtain them by addressing the Editor as fe^> 
4hv above and enclosing postage for their trans- . 5 
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N. B.— The expense of publishing- and dis- 
tributing this address was paid out of funds donat- 
ed to the historical commission, and paid into its 
treasury for this and similar purposes. The His- 
torical Commission is a regular portion of the Kan- 
sas Institution for the education of the Blind 
Alumni Association, which Association is chartered 
under the -laws of Kansas and is fully responsible 
in the law for all such obligations and for the 
proper disposition of all money intrusted to it. 
Any friend of the blind, or of higher and broader 
culture for humanity, who feels that the publica- 
tion and wide circulation of this and similar dis- 
courses are helpful to the cause of humanity and 
higher culture is respectfully invited and urged to 
donate sums of money either large or small to the 
publication fund of the commission to assist in 
carrying on its work. Full acknowledgment will be 
made for all such favors, and all communications 
and letters of inquiry concerning this matter should 
be addressed to, 

D. W. McGiix, 

Leavenworth, 

Kansas. 



Ir 



OUR NATIONAL MOVEMENT. 



Ladiis and Geutle*nen : 

The object of this convention is to find a 
basis upon which all blind people can co-operate as a 
unit for the accomplishment of one grand purpose. 
Higher education is the point to which every mind 
is turned, and thereby becomes that purpose to be 
accomplished. All the humanely inclined of the 
world today, are struggling to overcome and relieve 
the suffering and distress so prevalent in our civili- 
zation. This work has to deal not only with the 
blind, but also with the deaf and dumb, the home- 
less, and all manner of unfortunate which nothing 
but true philanthrophy and religion can relieve. 
This human work is practical in its needs, fruitful 
in its results, and highly professional in its charac- 
ter. It is professional because it requires high in- 
telligence to bring about its wise application. No 
person should be allowed to go hungry; but a man 
may be injured by giving him a piece of unearned 
bread. The moment the feeling of the necessity 
of self support is destroyed within him he becomes 
a parasite on humanity, and an impediment to its 
progress. Such individuals lose our respect, and 
ultimately their own. The loafer has but little, if 
any enjoyment; the common tramp is frequently 
miserable, and no man can be happy in the broad 
sense who has lost his self-respect. To be a nor- 
mal biological unit of the world, every man must 
earn his own living. He must be economically in- 
dependent. This independence may he obtained 
through muscular exertion, or by intellectual 
shrewdness. In the former case, it is industrial 
independence; and in the latter, a professional or 
intellectual independence. We have organized under 
the belief that wise systems of education are com- 
petent to give at least one or the other form of in- 
dependence to many of the blind. One of the chief 
causes of unhappiness among our people is the 
feeling of helplessness, and extreme dependence. 
There is a vast moral strength to be obtained in 
self-help. To destroy all self respect in man you 
have but to make him feel that he can do nothing 
for himself. This once lost tranquility of mind is 



I 



It 



gone forever, and such a citizen becomes a burden 
on society. 

A few hundred years ago the blind as such, 
taken as a class, were regarded as practically help- 
less, and in most cases beyond the possibility of be- 
ing- helped. The education of the blind is re- 
cent, and comes as a discovery, that they can be 
taught many thing's. Taught to read and to write; 
to learn, speak, and teach languages; to study 
and master elocution, lecoming professional in- 
structors and entertainers; to study and master mu- 
sic, both vocal, instrumental, or theoretical, and 
become professional teachers, entertainers, or com- 
posers and arrangers; to study theology and its allied 
branches, and become successful ministers of the 
gospel; to study history, literature, economics and 
civics, and become efficient writers and lecturers; 
to study trades, as broom making, hammock and 
mattress making, and by the sweat of their brow 
earn their daily bread. All these things are good, 
and are but beginnings in their way. The present 
generation has made another great discovery: The 
present facilities for educating the blind are inade- 
quate to bring out their capabilities. Their educa- 
tion ceases before the student is equipped for life. 
There are links missing in their chain of knowl- 
edge. The numerous and otherwise valuable parts 
of the machinery of a great factory become worth- 
less by the removal of single belts, and the clogging 
of single wheels. We call for higher education. 
We have discovered how a certain amount of addi- 
tional information given through higher school 
training would place vast numbers of sightless per- 
sons in positions to have self respect, even where 
complete independence is unattainable. They could 
earn a living if they could but receive a small 
amount of rightly directed assistance. It is this 
assistance for which we are asking. Charity is no 
disgrace, and no dishonor; but promiscuous giving 
is a detriment to both the giver and to those who 
receive it. There are a number of conscientiously 
devoted associations among the educated blind of 
America, whose aim and efforts are directed to the 
accumulation of such information as will place all 
charity for the blind upon an intelligent basis. 

This association has become the great arc- 
light of the higher educational movement. It was 
founded in Missouri, and may it be said, to the last- 
ing credit of the people of this state, it is now the 
neucleus around which all other like organizations 
are clustered. Less than three years ago, and in 
this very city, a handful of our Missouri friends 
met and sowed the seed out of which will yet de- 
velop the grandest association of its kind ever 
planted on American soil. The key note once 



struck its vibrations reached into other states; and 
from Maine to California our people are lifting- 
their harps from the willows, and are looking to 
the Jerusalem of their hopes. When will the final 
consummation be? When the blind people of this 
nation make a united appeal to its congress. There 
are reasons why this appeal should be made to the 
general government, rather than to the individual 
states. If given by the former, such facilities 
would be admissable to all the blind of America. 
If provided by the latter, there would doubtless be 
a lack of uniformity as in the present system. The 
blind in portions of this nation would receive these 
advantages while others might not; for even now 
in certain states, there are no schools for carrying 
on the lower, much less the higher education of our 
people. No one doubts the advisability of this part 
of the plan. The appeal, whatever it is, and when 
ever it is made, should be made to the general gov- 
ernment; but at this point, the two questions are 
presented, what, and when. The second annual con- 
vention endeavored to answer what, and we re- 
member, how the special college idea as set forth 
in the first bulletin was found to be unpopular. 
The spirit of the second annual convention strong- 
ly favored the plan of educating the blind among, 
or in connection with the sighted. It since tran- 
spired that the decision there made had more 
than a local significance. It went far toward 
reaching the heart of the subject. If these prob- 
lems are to be solved aright, they must be solved 
by the blind themselves. When an associated 
group of educated blind people give their earnestly 
expressed opinion after a reasonable discussion of 
any matter, as this, their decision is of infinitely 
greater value than speculative argument. Thus 
when we learn that twenty of the educated blind of 
Oregon met in convention at Salem, last May, and 
after reviewing the discussions of the last St. Louis 
convention unanimously decided in favor of the an- 
nex plan, we know that is a voice which must be 
accredited with much influence when the "final de- 
cision comes. 

"The same thought and feeling was expressed 
at Indianapolis last June when eighty of the educat- 
ed blind of Indiana gave their unanimous decision 
in favor of the scholarship theory. The same gen- 
eral idea prevails in Kansas, and was unanimously 
expressed last June during the ninth annual session 
of our alumni. These ideas proved almost equally 
popular in Missouri, as shown by the discussions 
of the last St. Louis convention, in which the Mis- 
sourian influence largely predominated. By ob- 
serving the recent bulletin which defines the vari- 
ous plans set forth for the higher education of the 



k 



blind, it is plain that the annex and scholarship 
ideas are practically identical; at least, in a* far as 
the contact of the sighted and blind in all educa- 
tional facilities. It is not for a convention like this 
to dictate out of its single thought a policy for the 
other blind people of the nation. Its sole function is 
to discover if possible, the general will and opinion 
with reference to the several questions at issue. 
We are attempting to establish a great national as- 
sociation; call influential and representative con- 
ventions, and in short, organize and guide a great 
national movement. This movement must answer 
what, when and how, and then it must act. Before 
any action, however, it must show why this effort 
is made, and why it is necessary. If the blind are 
to be educated with the sighted, why not just send 
them to any of the hundreds of existing schools for 
the seeing? We have not the necessary means. 
The blind as a class are poor. This fact alone has 
kept manj of our brightest minds from attending 
this convention. We must have special financial 
aid or we fail. There is an undoubted prejudice 
against the thought that the blind are capable of 
much useful employment. It is of the utmost im- 
portance to dissipate this false notion, and teach 
the world what the blind have done, are doing, and 
what might reasonably be expected of them. To 
acquire this knowledge, the blind themselves must 
be studied. And this investigation must be both 
scientific and historical. Before your attention is 
too strongly drawn in this direction, permit me to 
discuss the class question. Some of our best writ- 
ers lay great stress on the class idea, and attempt 
to dissipate it altogether. In my judgment, they are 
both right and wrong. Right in their conception 
of the injury resulting from the gross ignorance of 
the masses as to the capabilities of the blind. They 
are right in the thought that active measures should 
be employed to educate the people in this respect. 
They are undoubtedly wrong, if they hope, by any 
means whatever, to dissipate the natural fact that 
the blind do form a special class; and that fact ow- 
ing to a specific form of disability and disadvantage. 
The economic civilization of the world has been de- 
veloped from a stand point of vision, and any one 
lacking this vision is hampered, and must necessa- 
rily work in connection with the sighted members 
of society to fulfill all the functions of a normal citi- 
zen. It has been urged that, the blind must not be 
regarded as a class segregated from the rest of hu- 
manity, until a like distinction is accorded to the 
fat, the lean, the heavy, the light, the large, the 
small, the tall, the short. Such claims are ground- 
less. These differences are superficial, and do not 



hinder the possessor from successfully pefforniag 
all the necessary functions of life. These superfi- 
cial characters have nothing- to do with the question 
of subsistence, while on the other hand, blindness 
might easily be expected to result in death, if s >me 
aiding- hand was not extended. It is at this very 
point that we call for aid. If we have no peculiar 
misfortunes, why do we make this appeal? It is 
true that we are the same in all senses, with the 
rest of the human species, except that a peculiarly 
deep shade, and deep misfortune has fallen around 
us. Even though we dissipate the thought of a 
blind class, we must recognize them as a part of that 
great class of humanity which naturally appeals to 
the charity of the race. 

If this movement triumphs, this association 
must establish such a system of representation by 
correspondence that all absent members may have 
an equal voice in deciding any question that may 
arise in these conventions. Let every individual 
have a voice and a vote, then give time for thougmt 
and discussion, and this process will enable all 
questions to settle themselves. Wherever it is 
possible for a question to settle itself, it is best to 
have it do so, for this alone is natural. In this sys- 
tem there is a difficulty. A vote cast without an 
understanding of the subject is worthless and mis- 
leading. We can vote at a distance, but can we 
receive the benefits of the general discussions? On- 
ly through extensive correspondence, and a broad 
circulation of adequate published reports of each 
convention. These publications cost money, andj 
no movement can succeed without an ample finan- 
cial support. A broad circulation of all the papers 
brought before each convention would enable every 
interested member of the association to give an in- 
telligent opinion of any problem which comes be- 
fore this body. It is highly gratifying to know 
that this association has already taken important 
action toward establishing such a financial system 
as will permit the publication, and free circulation 
of ^ all necessary information. It is well to keep in 
mind the idea of self respect and self support. 
This leads directly to the question, bow shall this 
money be raised; shall it be obtained by general so- 
licitation from the public? If self respect is to bs 
retained,, and if this movement is to be self sup- 
porting, its finance must come from its members. 
By each member paying a small assessment each 
year all necessary means can be had. If this asso- 
ciation would become thoroughly self supporting, 
it would bebut a short time until large donations 
would be given to assist in pushing forward this 
movement. Right will win; and God helps those 
who help themselves. There is another seeming , 



4 



L 



difficulty; if a person has no money, it is impossible 
either to pay or give. The association can 
wisely arrange this matter by leaving it optional 
with the members, to either pay their dues in cash, 
or by obtaining one or more honorary memberships. 
In : this way the association could acquire a broader 
expression of opinion, and bring about a full and 
satisfactory answer to the question, what. Let 
every member give expression to their ideas, and 
the reasons therefor and it will quicker enable us 
to say when. Any great cause moves slowly. We 
are engaged in the work of a generation. Not one 
of us who are here today may ever profit as individ- 
uals, from the facilities we seek to establish. As 
members of the great brotherhood of man, we must 
work unselfishly for the benefit of those who fol- 
low. As we reap from what others have sown, so 
may our posterity enjoy the harvest of our labors. 

When we call for the higher education of the 
blind, we also call for the higher education of all 
humanity. One can hardly triumph without the 
other. There is a numerous class among the sight- 
ed which deeply desires a higher education, and 
could greatly profit by it, but lack the means to ac- 
quire it. There is a feeling in society, that no able 
minded persons should be deprived of these advan- 
tages on account of financial need. How to relieve 
this educational distress is one of the great prob- 
lems of the age. In a broad sense, society impul- 
sively aids any and all of its members who are in 
need; and the blind should ask no more than this 
general assistance which is accorded to all, for in 
this equality, the highest form of moral stamina 
and self respect is obtainable. What is right for 
one is right for all. What is done for one will be 
done for all. This is the logical justification for 
our hopes. Our national movement on the one 
hand, must co-operate with and form a regular part 
of the profession of benevolence, and on the other 
hand, must identify itself with the educational pro- 
fession now taking such definite shape in the whole 
civilized world. Until our appeal adequately rep- 
resents the highest intelligence of the educated 
blind of America, we have no right to carry our 
cause into the capitol building of this nation. The 
experiences of the blind either ignorant or educated, 
when brought together in a scientific way, afford 
the best solutions for these problems. A world of 
information must be accumlated to this end. This 
will require both time and patience. 

k 'Let us then be up and doing, 

With a heart for any fate. 

Still achieving, still pursuing. 

Learn to labor and to wait." 

I. A. Wilson. 



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